This is a degree for students interested in philosophy and literature and how they relate to each other. It gives you the opportunity to study the two subjects, each with distinctive traditions and lively contemporary scholarship, and to consider how these two fields relate to each other: are they in conflict, as Plato suggested? Do they complement, or even need one another? What can we learn about ourselves by having both fields in view and considering how they 'speak' to each other?

Some of the central themes and questions concern the way we express ourselves — what concrete form do we give to our thoughts and experience? We consider how our capacities for imagination, emotion, and reason can be relevant to truth-seeking. And very broadly, we are interested in the goals and values that are at work in philosophy and literature: what are the projects and challenges that show up as worthwhile in these practices?

Programme content

We bring philosophy and literature together in the classroom. At key points in the degree you will be jointly taught by faculty from the Philosophy and the English Departments. Though the particular thinkers and texts studied vary, these are some of the figures you might encounter: Friedrich Nietzsche, Virginia Woolf, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Toni Morrison, Walter Benjamin, J. M. Coetzee, Emily Dickinson, William Wordsworth, Fernando Pessoa and Jose Luis Borges. You will also have a chance to write on a philosophy and literature topic of your choice, bringing together authors and questions that you find challenging. This degree encourages you to learn about these fields in depth and to develop your own understanding of what is important in the relationship between philosophy and literature.

Thanks to some very specific expertise built up by Warwick in research, teaching and course development in this area, your degree will be a coherent and custom designed course. At least 10% of your time will be spent on combined Philosophy and Literature modules: Textual Studies and Problems in Philosophy and Literature. You can shape your course from year one, choosing one or two of your modules from six options. You choose around two thirds of your modules in year two and in your final year.

Structure

Year One	Year Two	Year Three
Problems in Philosophy and Literature	History of Modern Philosophy	Textual Studies
Modes of Reading	Options at Honours level in English (60 CATS)	Option at Honours level in English (30 CATS)
Logic I: Introduction to Symbolic Logic	Option at Honours level in Philosophy (30 CATS)	Option at Honours level in Philosophy (30 CATS)
Introduction to Philosophy		Option at Honours level in any department (30 CATS)
One optional module from the following list: Epic to Novel Medieval to Renaissance English Literature Modern World Literatures Ideas of Freedom Ancient Philosophy Reason, Argument and Analysis Philosophy for the Real World: Knowledge, Ignorance and Bullshit*

*Full module description will be available in September 2018.
 

Further Information

About the course Programme Directors: Eileen John (Philosophy) Paulo de Medeiros (English and Comparative Literary Studies) Course structure Modules Entry requirements Prospectus listing

Useful links How to apply Study abroad Fees and funding Accommodation Open days at Warwick Careers